UNESCO - Dakar Office

Background

One of the six Dakar Goals to which UNESCO and the international community committed themselves at the World Forum on Education in April 2000 is: "to ensure that the learning needs of all young people and adults are met through equitable access to appropriate learning and life skills programmes". Consequently, UNESCO considers Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) an integral part of the global Education for All (EFA) Initiative.

The setting up of the UNESCO-UNEVOC International Centre in Bonn in September 2000 was a major milestone in UNESCO's efforts to strengthen TVET as a whole, and to enhance training facilities for all, especially in the developing world.

Africa, and Sub-Saharan Africa in particular, require indispensable institutional capacities to enhance TVET for its untrained and unskilled young and adult population. At the 'Learning for Life, Work and the Future" - (LLWF) Workshop held in Gaborone, Botswana in December 2000, it was revealed that almost 90% of vocational teachers and instructors working in the public vocational training system require continuous upgrading of training skills. It was also stated that the quality of TVET is inextricably linked to the quality of its teachers and tutors, and the shortage of appropriately trained trainers in the sub-region is severe.

It is against this background that the UNESCO office in Dakar (BREDA) and the UNESCO UNEVOC International Centre in Bonn have organized this workshop with a view to supporting and strengthening the efforts being made in the SADC sub-region aimed at upgrading the quality of TVET trainers.

Objectives

The primary objectives of this project are to:

bring together coordinators of the UNEVOC centers/Associated centers in the SADC sub-region and thereby examine the status and situation of training of trainers in the TVET sectors in their respective countries with a view to developing an Action Plan highlighting the different activities which could be organized to support and strengthen the UNEVOC network by focusing on training of trainers.

provide, to the extent necessary, technical infrastructure and connectivity for these centers to enhance their capacities for the use of open and distance learning;

support the utilization of information and communication technologies (ICTs) for communication and tutoring in the delivery of training;

develop the capacity of one of the centers the Industrial and Vocational Training Board (IVTB) to guide and monitor the delivery process, and to provide tutorial services via electronic communication.

strengthen the ICT and open and distance learning skills of targeted trainers in TVET;

generate awareness about open and distance learning opportunities for training of trainers in TVET;

draw up and publish a report on the situation concerning training of trainers, and in particular on the experiences and perspectives developed during the course of the project.

Expected Outcomes

Improvement of technical infrastructure of participating institutions in the SADC sub-region with respect to ICTs and Open and Distance Learning.

Increased capacity of the IVTB to deliver open and distance learning in the SADC sub-region.

Enhancement of exchange and creation of partnerships and collaboration through the networking of relevant TVET institutions in the SADC sub-region.

Amelioration of ICT and ODL skills of TVET trainers.

Sustainability of training of trainers in TVET in participating institutions by using the report to initiate continuous exchange of information.

Development of a cadre of expert institutions and Coordinators in ODL for TVET as well as in the use of ICTs, to further spread innovative life-long learning throughout other institutions in the sub-region.

Foundation for training of TVET trainers in SADC at scale via open and distance learning.

Ultimately, increase of numbers of learners receiving quality TVET in the SADC sub-region.